Just have some questions. Do any of you daily drive your y block? I've heard from some people they will run forever and from others they are boat anchors and have an oiling problem. My truck is already setup for a y block so I would like to just drop one in but the bad overviews scare me. Doing a restoration( not frame off money is not there for that) and would like her to be reliable and my daily driver. So how do the y blocks compare to say like a 302 or 289 in reliability?

 

They are good old engines,i have three. Oiling was a problem they have for the upper part of the engines. Very important to keep clean oil in them as it helps with that oiling problem . There is a add on oiler kit for them,but i removed mine 20 years ago when i had it rebuilt and just kept the oil changed regular . They have solid lifters ,so you have to keep them adjusted if you want to make it last a long time. You might want to check out the Y-block forums here on F T E ,lots of information and help there.

 

I had my Y-block (54 239 in my F-100) rebuilt in 1979. I think it is soon due for another rebuild, it starts hard but runs good.

I have driven it hard in the 34 years I have owned it and it has served me well! Mine is still stock, no performance parts.

 

If you do some research you will find the y block to be a pretty good engine. They have their shortcomings which all engines do. I think they are mostly misunderstood. At one time our trucks were someones daily driver and they were ok back then.....

 

I have two Y-blocks. They run great. I ran a bottle of slick 50 through my first one in 1993 because some of the push rods were dry indicating no oil flow. A week later I checked and all of the push rods were getting oiled.

The old generation of oil was not as forgiving as oil today. I run 10w-30 year round and it works great. Good luck, Jag

 

I love the sound of the Y-block...

 

Oh go for the Y block!! Those were great engines. As long as you are getting oil up there you will love it! They do sound awesome and have plenty of power. They do start easy. I have a 54 f600 that I will soon turn into a dump truck. I start it up every couple months and it never fails me.